We believe that those
offering humanitarian assistance to some of Europes most
vulnerable people should be commended for their heroic actions,
and not persecuted for human smuggling. It is time you put your
kind words into concrete actions and propose one small word change
in the Facilitation Directive to ensure Europes unsung
heros are treated with the dignity they deserve and not criminalised
for offering humanitarian assistance."

"If a sustainable
shelter plan is not found very soon, the situation could become
catastrophic for almost 2,000 people who are sleeping rough in
streets and different squats in Serbia. Most of them are in Belgrade
and at the Northern border with Hungary.

This time of the year,
temperatures in Serbia are below 0. All the existing centers
and camps are overcrowded. And people are still coming. Today,
only in Miksaliste center 293 persons come to ask for assistance...."

Austria: Police is checking
trains from Italy

"The media are
reporting about Austrian borders being even more closely watched
by the police. This country closed its borders in March this
year, but people on the move are still found their way in. Some
of them are using trains that are traveling from Italy during
the night. Police started controlling these trains.

The decision comes after
man and women from Eritrea were crushed to death while hiding
on a train bringing trucks from southern Italy."

Official shelters in
Athens are full and the city is overflowing with refugee children,
many of whom have fled war zones without their parents and are
now sleeping in squats, struggling to look after themselves and
turning to desperate measures to survive. The government says
there are 1,200 children on waiting lists for places in formal
camps or shelters, but local charities believe there are many
more whose names are on no lists, sleeping in one of the 14 vast
squats that have opened up in recent months in deserted schools
and empty office blocks in the city centre."

"Despite widespread
opposition in the ranks of SYRIZA to such a prospect, Migration
Minister Yiannis Mouzalas has called for the creation of closed
reception centers for migrants on Aegean islands, saying they
will help minimize tensions amid local communities.

A key reason for building
tensions at existing centers on the islands is the slow pace
at which migrants asylum applications are being processed.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a pointed reference to the
slow pace of migrant returns from Greece to Turkey last week....
"

"Two boats today one in the south
east of Lesvos with 32 Syrian men they were dropped of by smuggler,
The other boat was picked up on the north coast by the coast
guard and taken into skala Sykaminia 55 people on board very
cold and wet, 7 children,15women, 33 men, great job by all the
teams."

Are Your Syrious (15.12.16)

Greece

"71 new refugees
were officially registered in Greece today, including 24 on Lesvos,
43 on Chios and 4 on Samos."

Serbia: People sleeping
rough as temperatures drop to -7° C

"Temperatures have
reached -7°C in central Serbia, but many people, especially
young single men, are still sleeping on the streets of Belgrade.
Hot Food Idomeni is still distributing food to those who are
not accommodated in the camps. MSF is also monitoring situation
in the squats. Miksaliste provided services 316 people today:
31 men, 18 women and 267 children."

Croatia: Police keeps
silent about push-backs to Serbia

"Ten days ago,
AYS was asked to support refugees who arrived to Zagreb, only
to learn they had been swiftly returned back to Serbia. This
was not the first time weve learned about push-backs from
Zagreb or other cities in inner Croatia, in addition to countless
accounts of (not officially confirmed) push-backs from border
areas. However, one of the refugees who was recently pushed back
to Serbia offered a detailed testimony of what happened, including
a piece of paper with the address of police station where he
tried to ask for asylum. Before he was brought back to the border
and told to walk the rails until he reached id train station,
Croatian police allegedly told him to sign a document, which
he did, not knowing what he was signing. Both CMS and AYS have
asked for official explanation of the incident, as there was
no official report on police website, where every big or minor
incident is usually listed. Were still waiting for the
response."

Mediterranean: Frontex
denies tying NGOs to smugglers after a leaked report causes uproar
in the press

"The EUs
border agency has accused charities operating in the Mediterranean
of colluding with people smugglers, according to confidential
reports described by the Financial Times. According to the article,
Frontex put its concerns in a confidential report last month,
raising the idea that refugees had been given clear indications
before departure on the precise direction to be followed in order
to reach the NGOs boats. The agency made the accusation
explicitly in another report last week, which stated: First
reported case where the criminal networks were smuggling migrants
directly on an NGO vessel. Elsewhere in the reports, which
are shared among EU officials and diplomats, Frontex says people
rescued by NGO vessels were often not willing to co-operate
with debriefing experts at all with some claiming that
they were warned [by NGOs] not to co-operate with Italian law
enforcement or Frontex. Following a well deserved uproar,
Frontex retracted these claims."

"Muslims and Africans are the most
frequent targets of racially motivated attacks. Anti-German sentiment
is also playing a role...

Three students from Turkey and Bulgaria
were cursed at by young men on a tram earlier this month in Bydgoszcz,
a city of nearly a half-million people in northern Poland. They
were told to get out of country because Poland is for Poles.

Instances like these are on the rise.
Foreign exchange students in Torun, a student city also in Poland's
north, have come under increasing threat. A young Turk was recently
cursed at and badly beaten. Two other students were forced to
their knees in a bar at the behest of the owner. They had to
"apologize" for being Muslim and not Christian. Patrons
encircled the students -- not to help but to laugh at their humiliating
position."

&COPY; Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X.
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